Opening night of league after 20 months off
BofA stars ready to resume play
BY RJ MITCHELL
After a 20 month-break due to the impact of Covid, the East of Scotland Squash Leagues will finally spring back into action this week.
First into action for Bridge of Allan Sports Club are the ladies team who will begin the defence of their East Division One title at Edinburgh University.
With the fluctuation in the playing talent in the students’ pool varying from one academic year to another, captain Sheena Logan admits the trip to Edinburgh will represent a voyage into the unknown but is hoping for a winning start to her side’s title defence.
Sheena said: “It’s great to be back and it will be interesting to see just how strong the students are. They will either be boosted by the arrival of some new players from down south and elsewhere or perhaps weakened because some of the players have moved on.
“But as defending champions we want to make sure we start as strongly as we can and to get a win to start the defence of our title would be fantastic.”
Meanwhile the men’s first team will begin their challenge for the top tier title with a trip to Waverley tonight (Wednesday) with captain Robin Bairner delighted to have No.1 Fergus Richards spearheading his team’s bid for glory once again.
Robin said: “He is now ranked 188 in the PSA world rankings and in terms of having his experience to set an example for young Kyle Penman, who will be in at No.2 this season and James Dougan, that is a huge plus.
“We will also be giving a debut to young Ollie Hunter, another one of our promising juniors who club coach Jane Martin has worked so hard to bring through and I am excited to see how far we can go this season with these young guys and a couple of old stagers like myself and club champion Roddy Campbell to add the ballast.”
The second team will open their Division Two campaign tonight at home to Grange 3 with a 7pm start and captain Martin Jack looking for home advantage at Minewood to ensure a winning start for his side.
The skipper said: “You can’t ask for any more than a home game to start the league season and we have that and against a third team as well, so it is vital we make the most of that.
“We are stretched by a couple of long-term injuries and the absence of Chris Turlik will be felt but we have the experience of Andy Meldrum to draw upon and the Scottish junior internationalist Anna Halliday making her debut for us hopefully we can come through.”
The third team, who gained promotion to Division Two in the abbreviated campaign of 2019/20, will also kick-off at Waverley where they will face the capital club’s second team tonight.
Captain Bert Mitchell is looking for a big season from No 1 Jamie Campbell to help ensure sights are set higher than mere survival.
Mitchell said: “This is a big season for the team and also for Jamie. He has worked hard to reach No.1 in the thirds and will now find himself playing guys who are club champions and No.1s in some cases, but I’m sure he will be up for a challenge.
“We will also be giving 15-yearold Jamie Cargill his debut and I am excited to see how he will go making the step up to what many say is the toughest league in East squash.”